Friday, January 25, 2013

The Roadmap To A Prosperous America (Condensed version)

We
have six major issues to solve in America, they affect every other
aspect about our lives, and they are the reason we haven't succeeded
in solving other major issues.

The first three, which are the
most important, are: 1) Campaign Finance, 2) the Revolving Door and
3) the Consolidation of Media.

1) Campaign Finance affects
everything. Every policy and decision that matters gets warped in
favor of whoever has the most money to spend on politicians, whether
or not you vote for a democrat or republican, because both have the
incentive to get re-elected, and under our current system that desire
forces them to focus on who's funding them, rather than the general
populace. Therefore, policies lean more in their favor because if
they don't, the rich will just fund someone else who will favor
them.

2) The Revolving Door is also a part of the
centralization of power because people are put into positions where
they face a conflict of interest. Ex: Working for a corporation, then
being put into a position that regulates said corporation, then going
back to work for said corporation, give a financial incentive to have
a bias to the corporation, thus directing more power and money to
that corporation.

3) The Media has become centralized, thus
their narrative is less diverse. Its focus is on profits instead of
reporting, creating an atmosphere that favors entertainment more than
informing the public, which is its societal function. As well, media
do not report about certain corporations for fear of losing funding
through advertising. This has been seen on cable news channels more
than anywhere else, and has had an effect on the psychology of
America.

These three issues have consolidated an immense
amount of power into the hands of very few people, an “Elite” you
could say.

After resolving these, we must fix the structure of
our government. The manipulation that has happened to our democracy
has allowed the government to become highly unaccountable to the
American people. These manipulations include: 4) Gerrymandering, 5)
Election Fraud, and 6) Open Debates.

4) Gerrymandering
distorts and manipulates our democracy. It disenfranchises voters and
allows politicians to manipulate elections in their favor, against
the will of the people, by drawing districts however they want.

5)
Election Fraud is completely unethical. It is literally the stealing
of political positions. This cannot be allowed because it is another
form of taking or holding on to power that people did not actually
entitle to the individual who won a rigged election.

6) Open
Debates are an important part of our democracy. They allow the
American people to become informed of our political situations from
different perspectives. If other perspectives are not allowed in,
diverse concepts and solutions are not heard about. This lack of
competition allows politicians who may not have the best ideas or
interest to obtain power without challenge.

These six issues
take precedent before any other issues, because they are the reasons
we can't solve any other issues.

This is why our Federal
Reserve is corrupt and has no transparency. 76% of the board
directors of the Federal Reserve are presidents or CEOs of companies
that the Federal Reserve is supposed to regulate.

It is why
banks like HSBC can get away with laundering money to terrorists and
drug cartels, and not go to jail, whereas you could spend years in
prison for possessing a small amount of pot.

It is why we have
the largest prison system in the world, because corporations profit
from their labor and how many prisoners they have.

It is why
marijuana and hemp (a plant that isn't even a drug) are illegal, even
though they provide endless benefits to a society.

It is why
we have low wages and high unemployment, because our trade and tax
policy export jobs to places like China so corporations can profit
off of the cheap labor.

It is why there are 24 empty homes for
every homeless person in America.

It is why America’s
healthcare is 38th in quality, yet we pay twice as much as France
which is number 1, or the UK which is 18th with a single payer
system.

It is why we have a Monsanto lobbyist as the head of
the FDA, allowing GMO's to be allowed in our food despite the danger
they pose.

It is why the “American society of civil
engineers” currently gives America a D grade on its
infrastructure.

It is why we waste so much money on an illegal
immigration policy that is completely ineffective.

It is why
the U.S. is 17th in education, even though we annually pay $2,000
more per child than Finland, which is number 1.

It is why we
don't address our environment, even though signs such as extreme
weather and erratic temperatures are becoming more obvious.

It
is why we aren't able to move forward on our energy policy, even
though current policies have proven to be incredibly harmful to the
lives of Americans.

It is why we are losing more and more
civil liberties every day, and turning our country into a police
state.

It is why we are caught in endless war, bombing at
least five countries and gearing up for war in another.

It is
why we have a $16.4 trillion debt and a $1 trillion deficit.

It
is why we are 94th in income inequality, where the top 1% own 40% of
all the wealth and the bottom 80% own 7% of all the wealth.

This
is our system right now. Money equals influence, and that influence
over the government causes money to be directed toward whoever is
spending it on candidates in the first place. Those that legally
bribe politicians get a higher return on their investment, so they
end up having more money to spend during the next election cycle.
Those same politicians then put corporate employees in regulatory
positions, giving more power to corporations. That specifically has
aided in the consolidation of media, because media employees end up
in positions at the FCC, and those owners get to consume more of the
market through deregulation, leading to less diverse media and a less
informed public.

The issues mentioned above, have given
politicians enough power to control their own political careers
outside of what the American people want. How else do you get a
Congress with a 10% approval rating to end up with a 90% re-election
rate. Not through a democracy, but through campaign funding, closed
media, gerrymandering, election fraud and closed debates. All of
which have seen a consistent increase in recent years.

This
isn't a democracy anymore, this is fascism. It is the merging of
business and state through corruption, as well as the centralization
of power over a country through wealth and political
manipulation.

This is the silver bullet: Conflict of interest.
It is what we need to fix immediately. If we don't solve this
problem, I am left without ideas or hope and I fear that all is
lost.

For a longer, detailed and sourced version of this
article, please visit:
http://ckamerica.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-roadmap-to-prosperous-america.html

In
the words of Horace Mann: "Be ashamed to die until you have won
some victory for humanity."

About Me

I'm a political/news junkie, and a problem solver. I created this blog so I could inform people about our current situation. I always try to find multiple sources, be objective by listening to different sides of the arguement, and look at the big picture.